Toasted Coconut Butter

If you like coconut butter, you’re going to love toasted coconut butter.

It’s much less sweetly dessert-esque and more richly flavored than it’s paler counterpart. Toasting the coconut brings out a deeper, almost nutty depth that straight up coconut butter doesn’t have. It’s such a simple step, but really amps up your coconut butter game!

Better yet, it’s still pretty much a one ingredient recipe. The only addition I might suggest is a (hefty, in my case) dose of sea salt added at the end. I find a smidge of salt elevates the toastiness to a new level. This makes it delicious at the best of times, but really comes into its own if you’re pairing your toasted coconut butter with something a little sweet, like apple slices or banana.

My current snack obsession lately is layering this stuff on top of lightly toasted Yucan Crunch, topped off with banana slices and drizzle of raw honey. It’s the closest this girl is gonna get to an Elvis style pb+j!

notes on making toasted coconut butter

Although this is possibly the easiest recipe ever – more a method than anything else! – I do have a couple of tips to pass on to you:

Please, pretty please, measure your coconut flakes by weight if at all possible. Depending on the different thickness and size of the coconut pieces you use, as well as how densely you pack the coconut, a single cup of coconut flakes or chips can vary from as much as 40 – 80 g in weight, which will make a huge difference to the total volume of coconut butter!

The coconut flakes I used weighed a little over 40 g per cup, when scooped lightly into the cup rather than packed down, which is why it took 12 cups of coconut to make about 2 cups / 16 oz of finished toasted coconut butter.

As a general guideline, you’re going to get approximately the same weight in coconut butter as you do in raw coconut, less the weight of the moisture lost by toasting the coconut in the oven. So in the case of this recipe, I used about 17 1/2 ounces of coconut flakes to yield about 16 oz of finished toasted coconut butter.

When it comes to toasting the coconut, the time it takes is going to vary from oven to oven. Toasting time will depend on the temperature of your oven, how often you open the sucker to check on the coconut, the thickness of your coconut flakes and more. It won’t take long to toast, but I recommend that you be prepared to babysit it while it does!

You’ll want to stir it every few minutes as it toasts so that it browns evenly and really keep an eye on it towards the end because coconut can burn quickly if you’re not paying attention! We’re aiming to get it a lovely caramel-style golden tone, but not let it start to deepen into brown or burn as that will make it bitter and unpleasant. Better to take the coconut out early than to let it get overdone in this instance.

You’ll need to use either a food processor or a super high powered blender. Whichever you use, it’s gotta be sturdy enough to grind nuts, with a container that won’t just push your toasted coconut up the sides. A case in point: I have a hefty Ninja blender that can crush ice no problem, but something thick like coconut or nut butters and it just gives up and quits. It will just fling the half processed butters (or any kind of thick batter) to the side of its container and no matter how often I scrape the sides, it’s just not having any of it, despite what the manual claims.

And a little reminder: although this looks like nut butter, it most certainly is not! It will still have the same texture as homemade coconut butter, which isn’t quite as smooth as the commercially available options. There’s so much natural fiber in coconut that it will never become completely smooth like a nut butter will.

Last of all, toasted coconut butter has the exact same limitations as standard coconut butter: it will harden when it’s cold, will liquefy below about 76 F / 24 C and will be at its best texture-wise when it has been gently warmed or softened.

TOAST: Preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C. Spread the coconut in an even layer, divided between two baking sheets if necessary. Place the baking tray(s) in the oven and bake, stirring every few minutes, for 8 - 12 minutes, until the coconut is a deep golden color, but not beginning to brown or burn.

PROCESS: Allow the toasted coconut to cool for a few minutes, then transfer it to a food processor or high powered blender. You may need to add half of the toasted coconut and then pulse it to reduce it in volume enough to fit the remaining half of the toasted coconut into the food processor or blender, depending on how large their capacity is. Process or blend, scraping down the sides a few times, until the toasted coconut goes from a sand like texture, to a paste and finally to a thin liquid consistency. Add salt, to taste, and blend once again to combine.

STORE: Transfer the liquid toasted coconut butter to jars and store at room temperature. It will take some time for the coconut butter to solidify, depending on the temperature of your kitchen or pantry. The melting point for coconut butter is approximately 76 F / 24 C, so if it's warmer than that your toasted coconut butter will become liquid again. When your toasted coconut butter is solid, it will form a thin layer of fat on the top -- this is totally normal! Just gently warm and stir to soften if needed.

Notes

Please, pretty please, measure your coconut flakes by weight if at all possible. Depending on the different thickness and size of the coconut pieces you use, as well as how densely you pack the coconut, a single cup of coconut flakes or chips can vary from as much as 40 - 80 g in weight, which will make a huge difference to the total volume of coconut butter!

The coconut flakes I used weighed a little over 40 g per cup, when scooped lightly into the cup rather than packed down, which is why it took 12 cups of coconut to make about 2 cups / 16 oz of finished toasted coconut butter.

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Toasted Coconut Butter is my fave! I used to make it all the time, but recently seeing your post on IG about this made me break out a jar I had chilling in the pantry. Also, your shots are insane. You’re one of my #photographygoals gals I hope to measure up to one day!

Ahhhh, you’re too kind, Chelsea – thank you so much! I really keep meaning to do a “before and after” style post when it comes to my photos, though, because I started out TERRIBLE. It’s really just a case of practice and a big dash of stubbornness on my part.

I just cranked out four jars of this and OH MAH LAWD. Liquid gold! I think it is even a bit reminiscent of peanut butter, which is great when you are missing peanut butter – I’m going to experiment with a ‘Satay(ish)’ sauce using this. I’m unreasonably excited about this. Thank you so much Rach!!